Many elements of today need to be shared, as it has been an action-packed day.
Let's start with right now.
I'm babysitting, as I have most Friday evenings since September.  It's a really sweet job, but it's three boys under the age of ten, so it took a while to get a bond going between me and the kids.  I'm used to baby boys or little girls who constantly show me they love me by hugging and cuddling and giggling.  But these are boys, and they're not babies, and they're not super affectionate.  In the beginning it was really frustrating for me because I would try really hard to get them to like me, but they were never into it.
I thought they hated me, especially the youngest.  He's three, and like most three year olds, he wants to be around his mom all the time.  So I think the idea of me spending time with him instead of his mom wasn't favorable, so he tends to yell at me or just stare at me when I'm trying to make him laugh.  Frustrating.
But today I got here and took the oldest boy (age 9) to an appointment and he talked the whole time and we laughed and joked about silly things, and then later I was knitting at the house while the boys ate dinner, and as soon as they finished they all sat around me and watched me knit.  And the youngest like scooted up next to me and fell asleep on my arm.
I died.
I feel like that is babysitting success in a nutshell.
Time to get them to bed, more later!

"There are only two stories in life: guy who stands on a ledge and guy who walks into a bar."
-Todd Komarnicki

Homework is hard.
Not the actual content of the homework, but the sitting down and focusing long enough to complete it.
Nearly impossible, I tell you.
I do all of the right things: isolate myself, silence my phone, get off facebook.
And yet, nothing.  I find myself on Blogger.
If not Facebook, then Blogger.
So let's do a countdown, shall we?

Days left of...
Journalism: 4
Christian Theology: 6
Video: 2
Screenwriting: 2

Days Until...
Kesha's Christmas/Hanukah Celebration: 8
Winter Ball: 15
Finals Begin: 6
Go Home: 21
Christmas Eve: 25
IRELAND: 35
Semester 6: 48

Time is flying, and that's terrifying.  I can't believe I'm in my final projects for my video/screenwriting/journalism classes.  Crazy.  Everything is so busy.
Especially tomorrow.
My schedule tomorrow is as follows:
9:10-10:10 class
10:25-11:15 chapel
11:30-1:00 lunch with Todd Komarnicki of Elf
1:00-3:10 filming for my journalism project
3:30-11:30 babysitting
11:30-forever sleeping.
It's crazy how quickly a day can be eaten up by busyness.

And then the ball is coming up.
And I will go to this ball.
I will not crash my car, I will look awesome, and I am going to have a date.
And it's going to be great.
But now I'm going to revisit the idea of doing my homework.
Happy Thursday!

Aaaaaand we have a new obsession.
I saw Peter and the Starcatcher, and of course I fell in love with Peter.
Because we know how I am with Broadway and its characters.
It wasn't a musical, actually it was my tenth Broadway show but my first play, so I didn't have any songs to obsess over after the show.
However,
I found that Peter spent something like two years as Henry in Next to Normal.
Which is a musical.
A dark and emotional musical about depression and drugs and real life.
I love it.
I love the tragedy in love stories that make them feel more real.
Ahh, Peter.
Too bad he's gay, like every other man I love.
Have a listen, his real name is Adam Chanler-Berat, and his voice is magic.

Today was really good, but mostly bad.
I came home from New York to Jersey, where my mom has done nothing but talk at me for an hour.
I found out that my camera is broken for good and cannot be fixed.
I am without a camera.
I am without a camera.
I am going to Ireland without a camera.
And I'm ridiculously tired.
And I have to go back to Gordon tomorrow.

Love Gordon, hate driving.
Hate hate hate hate.

Happy Thanksgiving!

So the day has come, it's Thanksgiving.
Steph and I prepped last night by watching Pocahontas, which as we all know is where Thanksgiving began.
But as for today, I woke up a little after noon from a really weird dream where I had a baby with this guy I know (I feel so creepy when it's someone I know, like why can't it just be Ryan Gosling or something?), and went downstairs to start the festivities.  In previous years (for my entire life), my family has gone to one of my aunts' houses and had the traditional turkey dinner with about fifteen to twenty relatives.  This year, my family stayed home and ordered indian food.  Very unconventional, very strange.
But, it turned out great.  We sat down together at like 12:30 and ate indian food at the table and talked and laughed and told stories of Heather and my childhood.  And then we all went to the living room and watched football, drank wine, and went through the online black friday deals that began today to make a list for Lucia.  It was super fun, especially because we're rarely all in the same room and when we are it's hysterical.  They're so weird.  So funny.  And for days like today with my family, I am thankful.
So tonight, we (minus Homie) are going to continue our Thanksgiving tradition of going to a movie.  We narrowed it down to seeing Wreck it Ralph or Anna Karenina, so naturally in my family- we chose Wreck it Ralph (it's disney, of course).
And then tomorrow Stephanie and I are off to New York City to go out to dinner and see a show on Broadway.  Which, you ask?  We don't know, as my aunt is surprising us!  So that'll be super fun.
As for now, I need to clean my room and pack my bag for tomorrow!
Happy Thanksgiving, friends.

I am so thankful for unscheduled days.

I have nothing to do today.

I have nothing to do and I'm so happy.

I could read a book, watch all my favorite movies, go for a walk, I could write a freaking book if I wanted to.

But I won't.

Being home is so nice.  Since Heather's moved back home, it just feels complete being here.  Like the way it used to be but better because we're older and actually get along better than the old days.

And I almost can't enjoy it because I know that in six short days I will be driving back to school.

Gah.

Who'd have thought that there would ever be a time that I was attached to New Jersey.

It's that time...countdowns!

Classes left/Days left till...
Christian Theo- 9
Journalism- 7
Screenwriting- 4
Digital Video- 4 (after today will be 3)
Home for Thanksgiving- 2
Home for Christmas Break- 36
Christmas Eve- 40
Ireland- 50

We are nearing the end, and I am starting the preliminary work for all of my final projects in each class. One script, one film, one article, and one research paper.  And then we have finals.  It's going to be great.
And then it starts all over a few weeks later.
Crazy.

I'm in a mood.
A disgustingly girly mood that can only be satisfied by puppies and chocolate.

Oh man I want a puppy.

I need to turn my computer off.

I
Am Losing
My Mind.

I Can't Write This Script Anymore.

Cannot.
I Cannot Be In The Library Anymore.
butimust.

Oh, the struggle.

It's weird when you think about how quickly things change.
And how quickly the events that shaped you disappear into the recess of your memory.
Because life goes on.
I'm thinking of this day three years ago when I had no plans of making it to my twenties.
And now here I am.


what would you think of me now,
so lucky, so strong, so proud.

Funny.  Ten minutes ago while writing my script I thought just don't open up Blogger and this'll be done in no time.
Oops.
And now I'm lost to the world of blogging.  There's just something about the library that makes me want to blog.
I'm thinking of all these really fun ideas for my next film/script and I'm getting so pumped.  I really want to do crazy hair and make up and such, so hopefully I can get a good cast and put the necessary time into planning/scouting to make it happen.
Ahhhhhh I love film.
But for now I have to finish my subpar script so that I can begin working on my really good film ideas.
Happy Monday!

Washed By The Water

Sunday nights.
I always go to bed so late on Sunday nights because I have to write my journal for Christian Theology before bed for class tomorrow.
And realistically, the journal takes less than a half hour including the reading required to write it, but I just can't get myself to sit down and do it till twelve thirty in the morning.
I think Tibbs has the same syndrome.
I'm sitting on my bed procrastinating while Kesha sits with Tibbs on her bed, coaching her through her philosophy paper.  What a trooper.
Also, I got baptized today.
I wasn't planning on it, but our pastor invited everyone up who felt convicted to do so, and he gave a very influential message about baptism.
But the whole time I didn't want to do it.  In terms of my faith, I don't like to be put on display.  I didn't like the idea of being in front of the 500+ people that were in church today and jumping into a tank.  I didn't like the idea of all of the emotions that come of close moments with God.
But the whole time I'm standing there watching the baptisms and trying not to think, I'm thinking of this song that I love, that I used to listen to when I was in high school.  So this one part from a Jon Foreman song is just running through my head: Would you create in me a clean heart, oh God, restore in me the joy of your salvation.  Wash me white as snow and I will be made whole.
And it freaked me out.  It was emotion, and a lot of it at that.  And I just had this overwhelming desire to be washed in the faith that has carried me out of the mess that I was.  And I just had to do it.
So at the last minute, after about twenty minutes of baptisms (there were 69 people who ended up being baptized, 11 of them had planned to ahead of time), I felt like it was something I needed to do.  So I ran to the back with Kesha and Laura and changed into a Netcast t-shirt (the name of the church) and got in line.
And I got baptized.
And Kesha and Laura stood next to me whilst I got dunked in the baptism tank.
Laura cried.
It was a cool moment.
And now all day people have messaged me and told me congratulations, which has actually been really weird.
It's weird to me that people are so happy I got baptized.  It's not like a bad weird, just a foreign weird.  Like why does everyone care so much when it doesn't affect them?  I guess that's what it means to be a church community.  Kinda cool.
So yes, that was my day.
And now that it's 12:23 am, I think I'll start on my journal.
Bleh.

Okay so my favorite song in Pocahontas doesn't even exist in the normal version of the movie.
But it's stuck in my head, and it's making me really happy.
And when I get really happy, I get ridiculously sleepy.
So I'm gonna stop this and get some work done before Pocahontas puts me to sleeeeep.
But don't worry, I'll share.